Why Do Americans Want To Go To College?

Why do Americans go to college? First and foremost, they want better jobs. – Washington Post

But the biggest jumps, in percentage-point terms, were for the share saying they went to college to “make more money” (44.5 percent in 1971, versus 72.8 percent in 2014; an increase of 28.3 percentage points that was mostly gained in the earlier years of the survey); followed by the share citing preparation for graduate or professional school (34.8 percent to 59.7 percent, or a 24.9 percentage point increase).